Active and Passive Candidates

Candidates come in many shapes and sizes but one aspect that will effect your recruitment activity is whether they are active or passive candidates. But what is the difference between active and passive candidates? And what impact does each have on a recruitment strategy?

Active candidates

An active candidate is a candidate that is currently seeking a new employment opportunity. They are candidates that are “actively” looking for a new job. Typically, active candidates will be unemployed and looking to get a job or they will already be in a job but are looking for a change or to move on.

These are the kinds of candidates that are using job boards, going to the local job centre, checking the paper, keeping an eye on the local shop window. Indeed, in many ways, active candidates are the easiest to find. The majority of the online recruitment products and services are designed with these candidates in mind.

Passive candidates

A passive candidate, on the other hand, is a candidate who is not actively looking for a job. These candidates are the vast majority of workers who are happy in their jobs and are not actively looking to move. They are not looking on recruitment websites, they are not reading the classifieds in the newspaper, nor are they doing anything else that involves job seeking.

However, what makes these people candidates is that, if a better opportunity came along they might just take it. They key is to get that opportunity to them. That is the challenge faced when trying to reach these candidates: how do you reach people who aren’t looking for a job?

Actively passive candidates

An actively passive candidate is, as the term suggests, a mix of both active and passive candidates. These candidates are not actively seeking an immediate job opportunity. However, they still keep their eyes and ears open in the search for a new better position. They may sometimes post their CV online or make a application to the very occasional job.

In reality, these candidates are active candidates who are just very choosy. They are looking for the dream role and will move if it comes along. They are not actively looking for a new job but are looking for the right job. Such candidates can be found on job boards (albeit in lesser numbers), in newspapers and at networking events.

Which is better?

Many recruitment “experts” declare passive candidates to be the holy grail of recruitment. They are thought to be more highly-prized because, unlike active candidates, they aren’t looking for jobs and must, therefore, be somehow better. In reality, however, this seems to be a case of wanting what you can’t have. Recruitment is about people and finding the right people for your vacancies.

An active candidate isn’t better than a passive candidate; and a actively passive candidate isn’t better than the others. No type of candidate is better than the other. The best candidate is the one that best meets your needs, is the best person for your job, and is the best and happiest fit for your organization – and whether they are active or passive or actively passive is irrelevant.

Is your candidate active or passive?

However, to find the best candidate for your job you may have to recruit for all types of candidates and this offers challenges to your recruitment strategy. If you are looking for an active candidate or the actively passive candidate then you will be able to rely on the wealth of online recruitment options out there: job boards, trade press, newspapers, radio — all offer options for reaching these candidates.

If, on the other hand, you are looking for passive candidates, you face challenges. Because passive candidates aren’t looking for a job and aren’t using the traditional recruitment channels, reaching them is going to be more difficult. Clearly, job boards will not be the ideal recruiting option for such candidates. Rather, business networking, social media and direct candidate sourcing are the channels to recruit these candidates.

The type of candidate you are looking for will define your recruitment strategy. However, your recruiting goal should remain the same: find the best person for the job.

Next steps? Check out these other guides and articles:

• An introduction to Applicant Tracking Systems
• What is Job Posting Software?
• An Introduction to CV Databases
• An Introduction to Online Recruitment
• Flat fee recruiters